NZ2541

Auckland to Whakatane

Due to the flight being 55minutes late, me, being already checked in, i went and had lunch to wait out the transit. Just before boarding, i went down and waited at the departure gates. Wrong idea! The boarding call was another 20minutes off, and then they boarded a ATR flight to Napier, a Q300 flight to Tauranga, A Beech flight to Taupo and a Beech flight to Blenheim all at the same time as our flight to Whakatane. Talk about utter chaos!!!

NZ2541 to Whakatane, Seat 5F 


My mood was lightened though to find that our ride to Whakatane was ZK-EAK, painted in its special All Black livery. I have flown on its sister, ZK-EAG from Tauranga to Auckland before, so it was nice to fly on the other All Black plane.

We took off to the west, circled around and climbed to 16.000ft. The views out the window were still pretty patchy.

See Ya Auckland!

Black Winglet, ZK-EAK

Tauranga beneath the patchy clouds

The little settlement of Matata on approach into Whakatane

Whakatane township as we turn to approach the runway

Taxiing into Whakatane Airport

My ride back to Whakatane, Eagle Airways Beechcraft 1900D, ZK-EAK. Whale Island visible to the left



It was actually quite an enjoyable flight back, not too long and not too short. Deplaning as usual in a Beech was quick, and soon I was on my way back to Tauranga

Auckland to Whakatane

Aircraft: Beechcraft 1900D
Rego: ZK-EAK
Seat: 5F
Flight Time 39minutes

NZ5236

New Plymouth to Auckland


I already had my boarding pass printed in Auckland, so it was just a matter of waiting for the boarding call. I was constantly looking at the time, worried about making my connection back to Whakatane. I was cursing myself for having taken such a stupid risk. The boarding call was delayed due to a passenger needing a DPL (disabled persons lift). Finally the boarding call was made, and thankfully boarding was super fast and the doors were shut and we were on our way within 10minutes.

NZ5236 to Auckland, Seat 2A

We took off to the South, banking right for abit then levelling and making our way to 15.000ft. Like our landing, it was a super turbulent and miserable climbout.

Seeya Later Taranaki, Our super turbulent and miserable climbout.

The Two FAs did a Water, Biscuit and Lolly run through the cabin, then did a rubbish run. The views out the window consisted of cloud and haze. We started our descent after seemingly short flight into Auckland. We landed from the east, and taxied to the same distant prop gate we had when we left.

Being at the front of a rear loading aircraft when in a extreme hurry was big oversight on my behalf. It took ages to deplane!! I rushed inside only to find my onwards flight back to Whakatane was delayed 55minutes. :(

New Plymouth to Auckland

Aircraft: ATR 72-500
Rego: ZK-MCY
Seat: 2A
Flight Time 37minutes

NZ5235

Auckland to New Plymouth


I was able to checkin just in time for my flight to New Plymouth. However as the AKL-NPL-AKL flights were booked separately, I could only check in for my first flight, not the return. I managed to find a Check In person and got her to manipulate the system to check me in for my NPL-AKL flight. With two boarding passes in hand, I made my way down to the departure gates

NZ5235 to Auckland, Seat 17D

A boarding call was made over 15minutes later than the ETD. I was eager to get going, it was a bit of a risk this New Plymouth jaunt. I didnt want to miss my connection back to Whakatane. We had one of the far regional gates. I had seat 17D for the trip down to Taranaki, right at the back of our rear loading ATR 72-500. Upon boarding I was excited to see our older ATR 72 had been fitted out with the new ATR 72-600 interior. It looked very smart and clean.

Seat Back of the new ATR 72 interior. 

We took off to the West, climbing over a gloomy Manukau Harbour. The Plane was rather full, luckily the seat next to me remained empty. We climbed to 16.000ft and made our way south.

Leaving the Coast behind

We seemed to head quite away out to see, before turning to head more towards Taranaki.

Front making its way towards the North Island Coastline

The Captain came on to announce very miserable conditions in New Plymouth. He mentioned that the airport was only a tiny bit below crosswind limits for the ATR, and only one attempt at landing will be made otherwise the aircraft will turnaround and head back to Hamilton or Auckland. Hamilton, seemed I was doomed to end up there that day.

We started our descent into a bleak Taranaki morning.

Descending into New Plymouth

On passing through the cloud layer we were pushed around a bit by the strong winds. On approach to the airport, it seemed the wind intensified and it was a really hair raising landing. In my top five for sure!

We taxied to the terminal, and shut down. It was a horrid walk from the aircraft to the terminal, the wind was whipping sea mist everywhere.

My ride to New Plymouth, Mount Cook Airlines ATR 72-500, ZK-MCY

Auckland to New Plymouth

Aircraft: ATR 72-500
Rego: ZK-MCY
Seat: 17D
Flight Time 44minutes

NZ2542

Whakatane to Auckland


In November 2013, Grabaseat did a promotion where everyday the website had a selection of $9 fares around the country. Great news for a plane buff like myself. I booked quite a few, but unfortunately due to work and personal commitments, I was only able to fly a handful.

The $9 flights to/from Whakatane appeared early one Sunday and I was able grab a return WHK-AKL-WHK with around a 5 hour transit. The day after I managed to grab AKL-NPL-AKL flights to fit snugly between the WHK flights. More on that later.

I was booked on the first outbound flight from Whakatane on a Saturday morning. It meant a early start for me while I made the 45min trip from home to Whakatane Airport.

I love how quirky this little terminal is, just fantastic.

I arrived just slightly before final check in time. I was amazed at how quirky and interesting the Whakatane Airport terminal was. It was designed by architect Roger Walker and was finished in 1974.

Found This Online:

The terminal building was intended to put Whakatane on the map while avoiding the repetitive, boxy design characteristic of many airport terminals. It is excitingly different yet has good flow patterns and clean separation of internal functions. The materials used keep the human element dominant so that pasengers and baggage are not treated in a too similar manner.

As with most small regional airports, I expected check in to be speedy. I was soooooo wrong!! It took nearly 25minutes to get my Boarding Pass. Shocking! 25minutes of standing at the back of a large queue. By the time I received my boarding pass, the boarding call was made, the flight already being 5minutes late.

NZ2542 to Auckland, Seat 5A

My Ride to Auckland, Eagle Airways Beechcraft 1900D, ZK-EAN



Boarding was completed rather quick. We had around 14 pax on board. We started up and then taxied out to the runway. As with pretty much all regional airports in New Zealand, and taxi down the runway to the other end is required. We took off the the Northeast and started our climb to our cruising altitude of 17.000ft. It was a sunny yet slightly gusty morning in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. We flew just offshore, meaning I had great views of Matata and Pukehina Beach. It started to cloud over disappointingly over Tauranga, the great views I would have got, were obscured.

Patchy Views on route

I got patchy views through the cloud of Te Aroha and the Waikato Dairy Country. A bank to the right and we started our descent into Auckland over the firth of Thames. The FO came on the radio to announce we were going to be circling Auckland Airport for around 5 minutes due to a ATC issue.

Circling Auckland Airport

After about 5 minutes the FO came on the radio to announce the Auckland Airport was closed due to a Aircraft breaking down on the runway. We were going to head out to Waiheke and stay in a holding pattern for about 15-20mins while the Aircraft was towed off the runway.

Circling overhead Waiheke Island

After what felt like an age (25mins according to the watch), the FO came back on the PA to announce that we were off to Hamilton Airport, from there we would be shuttled back to Auckland. We started to make our way to Hamilton, but then the FO announced the Auckland was reopen and we were turning around and heading back!

Descending into Auckland finally!

We landed in behind a Airbus A320 and then taxied over to the regional gates. On taxi I saw a ATR 72 of Mount Cook Airlines being towed over to the regional gates. The front right hand emergency exit window was missing and I could see the faces of Passengers inside.

We shut down and then started deplaning, I made a quick brisk walk inside to checkin for my flight to New Plymouth, which I was going to be still able to make despite the delays.

Whakatane to Auckland

Aircraft: Beechcraft 1900D
Rego: ZK-EAN
Seat: 5A
Flight Time 83minutes